Amnesty accuses 'trigger-happy' Israeli troops of war crimes

Israeli soldiers are using unnecessary force policing the West Bank, charity
has alleged

Israeli soldiers fire teargas during clashes at the funeral of Samir AwadPhoto: AFP

By Inna Lazareva, Tel Aviv

9:07AM GMT 27 Feb 2014

Israel has reacted angrily to a report by Amnesty International which accused it of being "trigger happy," saying that the study showed bias and a “skewed logic”.

Amnesty has accused Israel of a “callous disregard for human life” after it documented the killing of dozens of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank over the past three years.

The 87-page report, entitled "Trigger-happy: Israel's use of excessive force in the West Bank" was published on Thursday and details what it described as "excessive force to stifle dissent and freedom of expression" since the beginning of 2011. The report documents the killing of 45 Palestinians and wounding of thousands "who did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life."

In the report, Amnesty International goes as far as to accuse Israel of "war crimes and other serious violations of international law" against Palestinians. The report notes that more Palestinians living in the West Bank had been killed last year than in 2012 and 2011 combined, and said that more than 8,000 Palestinians - including 1,500 children - have been wounded by rubber bullets and tear gas since 2011.

"The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers- and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators - suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy," said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International.

Daniel Taub, Israel's Ambassador to the UK, said: "Amnesty's obsessive focus on Israel, and its refusal to recognise the very real threat posed by deliberately-orchestrated violent demonstrations, suggests an agenda that has more to do with politics than human rights."

The Israeli Embassy in London said in a statement “Amnesty is in need of an urgent reality check”.

Between 2011 and 2013, there were 247 people injured by rock throwing, while “scores of Israelis have been victimised by shootings, stabbings, and other forms of terror, none of which Amnesty sees fit to mention in its report”, noted the Embassy.

“The report brings together carefully selected, unverifiable and often contradictory accounts from clearly politically-motivated individuals, which it then reports as unquestioned facts”, said the Israeli Embassy.

Hours after the report was published, Israeli forces killed a 24-year-old man that they were seeking to arrest, after he refused to turn himself in. Soldiers in the West Bank town of Bir Zeit bulldozed part of Muataz Washaha's house after a standoff lasting several hours, and opened fire. His body was found shortly after.

An Israeli military statement said that Washaha had been wanted for "suspected terror activity" and that the forces, which later found an AK-47 assault rifle in the house, were operating under the premise that he was armed.